I took my Garrett Ace 250 with me this weekend to hunt Virginia Beach. Due to it's light weight and it's small breakdown size I could pack it in my bags for the flight from Boston to Dulles. I highly recommend the 250 for beach hunting but only for the dry sand. I found about $4 in clad and a few medallions in over 4 hours of hunting. I also had the chance to find a lost cell phone for a very distraught gentleman. On my prior hunts I had found a lot of quarters but this time I found a ton of pennies. I did find a James Polk clad dollar!
The reason I don't like the 250 for wet sand is that the sensitivity has to be set so low that the effective search depth is less than 3 inches. It can be done but it is not really much fun. With the dry sand I find stuff down to 6 inches frequently. On the dry beach nothing much gets by the 250 and it is a coin magnet. I have also discovered that Virginia Beach is so huge that hundreds of hunters could be accommodated. I have also hunted VB with a White's V3 and a Garrett 1500. I find the 250 to be the best of the pack and the simplest to use.
Happy Hunting!
The reason I don't like the 250 for wet sand is that the sensitivity has to be set so low that the effective search depth is less than 3 inches. It can be done but it is not really much fun. With the dry sand I find stuff down to 6 inches frequently. On the dry beach nothing much gets by the 250 and it is a coin magnet. I have also discovered that Virginia Beach is so huge that hundreds of hunters could be accommodated. I have also hunted VB with a White's V3 and a Garrett 1500. I find the 250 to be the best of the pack and the simplest to use.
Happy Hunting!